Ovington Commuter Express To Begin Rapid Helicopter Service

Ovington Commuter Express announced today that they would begin rapid helicopter service to replace three 6 Kimborough and 7 Townesvale buses in the peak direction during rush hour.

The helicopters will fly towards Ovington making stops at Mastic and The Airport. They will then land on the roofs of some downtown buildings, and then end at a small Heliport at the corner of Climax Avenue and Subway Avenue near the Ovington Commuter Express Climax Avenue A, B, C stop.

The buses that this service will replace historically have been standing room only on the corridor between Loring and The Airport, so now more space can be freed up for more even distribution.

Ovington County governor Johnathan Davis said in a press release yesterday, "This is a giant leap for Ovingtinians and commuter transport schemes. It proves that rapid commuter transport by air is practical".

A transport enthusiast named Rosenhall (he refused to have his first name published here) has some thoughts on the subject.

"I have always loved Ovington Commuter Express and any new developments it has. I am especially excited to see this new helicopter service start up. This is the future of commuter transportation." -Rosenhall 

This service is the first of its kind ever in history to exist, and Ovington is very proud of that. It is currently in the very early stages of development, but when it opens, it will revolutionize public transportation, not just for Ovingtinians, but for everyone.

By now you may have read the date at the top of the post and realized this may be a huge joke. Well, it is. April fools!

However, Ovington Commuter Express will try to increase service at corridor stops by running the newly re-routed 5 Shannagh Point bus local on the corridor, making all stops.

C Train Electric Service Begins Saturday, March 7th

New electrified Ovington Commuter Express Service between Central and Shannagh Point begins on Saturday, March 7th at the beginning of the service day at 4:00am.

Re-electrification of the existing North Side Line

The project began in 2005 when the old 25kv AC catenary was upgraded to 60kv AC between 2005 and 2007. It involved replacing the two transformers in each substation which feed the electricity to the train. There are 7 substations between the current location of NOMAS (North Mastic) Interlocking and MYSTIC Interlocking, and each substation cost 300,000 bucks a pop, so you do the math. There are 2 transformers per substation, and there are 7 substations. Multiply 7 by 2, you get 14. There are 14 transformers. 14 multiplied by 300,000 is 4,200,000. Therefore, $4,200,000 was spent on new transformers for the substations. The time was also taken to replace the catenary as it was about 90 years old, and it was a good idea to get it done while the other components were being replaced.

Electrification of the existing North City Line

The existing North City Line (C train) was electrified between BELL interlocking east to the end of the track just east of Westport between 2009 and 2014. Various substations and breaker houses were built between the two aforementioned locations. As of this posting, the system is under test.

Construction of new track between Westport and MASTIC interlocking

A new electrified double track between Westport and NOMAS interlocking was built between 2007 and 2014. Most of it was on an existing embankment abandoned in 1983 by the Coal Railroad when the port was shut down. A new rapid transit style elevated line was built to connect the existing section to the embankment. The tracks were completely replaced as they has rusted out completely. The tracks were also electrified, as usual. One new station known as North Mastic was built about halfway down. It has a single 8.5 multilevel car high-level island platform.

Electrification of the existing Shannagh Point Branch

The Shannagh Point Branch has existed since 1884. It was a freight only branch serving the port. In 1968 it was grade separated and had Mystic Center, Loring Avenue , and Shannagh Point stations open on the new embankment. When the transit center was opened in 1987, Shannagh Point station was moved to the end of the embankment, and renamed Shannagh Ferry, in reference to the ferry terminal. During grade separation, provisions were made for substations and breaker houses, but there was no need to electrify the line, as they could just use 87-N class dual-mode locomotives. But Ovington Commuter Express will not operate electric push-pull trains for any reason. So now was the time to electrify the line. The project was started in 2013 and in service on January 10th, 2015.

What is to become of the surplus equipment?

The MU cars will displace many push-pull cars. The Comet V cars will be sold to a new commuter rail start-up in Cornmeal. Many GP40-PH locomotives will also be sold. The F40PH locomotives are from the early days of Ovington Commuter Express and will be scrapped, as they are too old for resale, and are in poor condition. The Genesis locomotives, 50 GP40-PH locomotives and the Multilevels are staying, because the City Loop is still diesel territory.

Also, before I forget, some MU cars will run on the A line to replace the 80 year old MP54 cars. They were going to go sometime.

What about the South Ovington Service?

Every other train will operate to/from South Ovington, with electric equipment.

When is this post going to end?

Almost there.

Okay.

One final thing, on the first two days of service, fares will not be collected at new stations.

That is all.

New Multilevel Multiple Unit Car In Service

A train of six new multiple unit cars began running temporarily on the A train.

The train consisted of new multilevel multiple unit cars originally built for Ovington Commuter Express diesel line D in 1999 an a multilevel car experiment (pictured below). They were all cab cars. As part of an experiment of multilevel cars for service in the city subway. They were sent to the J. S. Bachmann Car Builders in 2013 for conversion to multiple unit cars. After they were converted, they were tested in the city subway for clearance restrictions; they can operate everywhere, except the loop at Central, which isn't used much anyways.

There are several classes of car. They are as follows:

Class 1: J. S. Bachmann built, Married Pairs, 50 cars

Class 1A: J. S. Bachmann built as unpowered car 1999, rebuilt to MU 2013, Singles, 20 cars

Class 2: Shells by Kawasaki Yonkers, NY, Married Pairs, 50 cars

Class 3: Shells by Kawasaki Lincoln, NE, Married Pairs, 50 cars

Class 4: Shells by Hyundai Rotem, South Korea, 50 cars

Class 5: Built by Kawasaki, Yonkers, NY, 80 cars, based on MARC multilevel

The cars are designed to operate as locomotive-hauled coaches and cab cars if absolutely necessary.

Photo by J. S. Bachmann

Reduced Ovington Commuter Express Service To Return Today

Reduced Ovington Commuter Express service will return today on some bus routes. All bus routes except 4 Newton will be in service by 3:00pm this afternoon. Buses run on a reduced Saturday schedule with off peak fares all day. There is no surcharge for crossing the city line until Monday AM rush, or when full service is restored, whichever comes first.

Service is expected to return to diesel commuter lines C, and D by Thursday. Service on electric commuter lines A, and B, and diesel commuter line E is expected to return as the tracks are cleared, and in the case of the A and B lines, that the catenary and substations are safe to use. Bustitution will be provided for lines B, C, and D. For alternative service on line A, use the line B substitute bus between Central and Climax Avenue. For service between Climax Avenue and Berlynne Ferry, you're out of luck. The R159 bridge over the Bayview River is shut by the Bayview Department of Transportation. Sorry. For alternative service on line E, you're also out of luck. No offense, but we would run substitute bus service if fewer of you drove to the Airport and instead took the train all the way. That's why there's no weekend service there. That's about it for now. We are trying to provide our best possible service to you, even if it causes problems.

ALERT Ovington Commuter Express To Shut Down Due To Severe Weather

The following are the last commuter rail trains. Commuter rail ends at about 11pm.

Outbound:

Last A train departs Central at 10:24pm and will arrive at Berlynne Ferry at 11:03pm

Last B train departs Central at 10:53pm and will arrive at North Side Ferry at 11:20pm

Last C train departs South Ovington at 9:59pm and will arrive at Westport at 11:00pm

Last D train departs South Ovington at 9:36pm and will arrive at Eastport at 11:13pm

Last E train departs Bay Junction at 8:10pm and will arrive at Midway at 8:24pm

Inbound:

Last A train departs Berlynne Ferry at 10:13pm and will arrive at Central at 10:58pm

Last B train departs North Side Ferry at 10:40pm and will arrive at Central at 11:09pm

Last C train departs Westport at 10:00pm and will arrive at South Ovington at 11:01pm

Last D train departs Eastport at 9:07pm and will arrive at South Ovington at 11:09pm

Last E train departs Bay Junction at 8:30pm and will arrive at South Ovington at 8:44pm

The following are the final bus runs. Buses run until about 10:30, or so.

1 Southwater
-Outbound
 -From Central: Dep: 9:08 Arr: 10:22
 -From South Alba: Dep:8:57 Arr: 10:36

-Inbound
 -To Central: Dep: 9:00 Arr: 10:01
 -To South Alba: Dep: 9:01 Arr: 10:34

2 North Ferry
-Outbound
 -From Central: Dep: 9:01 Arr: 9:58
 -From South Alba: Dep: 8:45 Arr: 10:02

-Inbound
 -To Central: Dep: 9:08 Arr: 10:12
 -To South Alba: Dep: 9:20 Arr: 10:12

3 Westport
-Outbound
 -From South Alba: Dep: 8:08 Arr: 10:22

-Inbound
 -To South Alba: Dep: 8:10 Arr: 10:38

4 Newton
-Outbound
 -From Airport: Dep: 9:35 Arr: 10:00

-Inbound
 -To Airport: Dep: 8:53 Arr: 9:28

5 Shannagh Pt.
-Outbound
 -From Central: Dep: 8:04 Arr: 10:04
 -From South Alba: Dep: 7:54 Arr: 10:02

-Inbound
 -To Central: Dep: 8:00 Arr: 10:00
 -To South Alba: Dep: 8:08 Arr: 10:18

6 Kimborough
-Outbound
 -From Central: Dep: 8:28 Arr: 9:58
 -From South Alba: Dep: 8:28 Arr: 10:08

-Inbound
 -To Central: Dep: 8:28 Arr: 9:58
 -To South Alba: Dep: 8:28 Arr: 10:08

7 Townesvale
-Outbound
 -From Central: Dep: 7:08 Arr: 10:08
 -From South Alba: Dep: 7:08 Arr: 10:22

-Inbound
 -To Central: Dep: 7:08 Arr: 10:08
 -To South Alba: Dep: 7:08 Arr: 10:22

Ovington Commuter Express service will be suspended until it is safe to start running trains and buses again. Lines will be put back into service as they are safe for operation. Please stay tuned for further updates.